


it's march first, and it's cheese

by starryeyed_dyke



Category: Next to Normal - Kitt/Yorkey
Genre: F/M, Fluff, bit of angst, its march first and its cheese, natalie lowkey has a freakout at the dance after her freakout in the song, normal overworked traumatized teenager stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:54:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29804595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryeyed_dyke/pseuds/starryeyed_dyke
Summary: Henry smiled at her, his eyes glimmering. "Hey," he greeted."...Hey," Natalie responded with a soft smile that only grew after his next comment."You look like a star. A vision in blue."
Relationships: Natalie Goodman/Henry
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	it's march first, and it's cheese

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up a day late to the dance with starbucks* hey did i miss anything?

Natalie and Henry had been dating for a few months and today was March first - the day of the school dance. Henry had invited her a few days ago, and then yesterday, and then he was waiting at the dance for Natalie, worried she wouldnt show up.

  
But she did.

  
Henry smiled at her, his eyes glimmering. "Hey," he greeted.

  
"...Hey," Natalie responded with a soft smile that only grew after his next comment.

  
"You look like a star. A vision in blue."

  
"Oh," she raised her eyebrows. "I do?"

  
He got noticeably excited, but only to her. 

  
"And you are...!" He moved closer to cup her face. "Hey, you came."

  
"Well," she smiled, resting her forehead against his. "I said that I might."

  
"I thought we were through; me, and you."

  
"Not tonight, Henry. Not tonight."

  
"Will... your mom be okay?" He asked softly, tilting his head. 

  
"She might be someday."

  
"But... for now, it's all fine?"

  
"She's... Still on my mind." Natalie admitted, stepping away from Henry with downcast eyes.

  
"Can you leave it behind?" He moved closer in response, hand stretching out to cup her face. "Hey, stay, let's see this thing through..."

  
Henry could only watch helplessly as tears filled her beautiful eyes and started to slide down her face. "Am I crazy...!?"

  
That question hit Henry like a truck, and he tilted his head once more, going to respond before she kept speaking.

  
"I might end up crazy..."

  
"Shh, hey. I'll be here for you." Henry whispered in a calming voice, rubbing her shoulders.

  
"You say that right here!" She spoke in an accusatory tone, shifting away from him once more, but he wouldn't have it, moving closer to touch her face anyway. "But then give it... a year! Or ten years! Or a fucking life! I could end up your wife!" She was waving her arms wildly now, panic obvious in her eyes. "Sitting staring at walls, throwing shit down the stairs! Or freaking out at the store! Running nude down the street!" She pulled away to pretend to slice her wrists open with her hands. "Bleeding out in the bath-"

  
"Hey!" 

  
His voice made her snap back to reality. 

  
"Perfect for you." He reminded her softly, the same words he had said a few months ago when they first started dating. "I will be perfect for you." He insisted, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he thought through his words. "So... You could go crazy, sure, or I could go crazy. It's true. Sometimes life... It's insane." He let his hands rub up and down her arms. "But crazy? I know i can do." He touched both sides of her face, tugging her closer, voice lowering as he stared at his perfectionist girlfriend. "'Cause crazy, it's perfect. And fucked up is perfect. So," he moved, an arm wrapping around her waist and tugging her against him. "I will be perfect."

  
"Perfect..." She breathed, eyes fluttering down to his lips. 

  
"Perfect for you."

  
He moved his other hand from her cheek to her hair, gently guiding her face so he could press his lips to hers.

  
A second passed as she seemed to comprehend the fact that he was kissing her like he was in love. It took her another second to comprehend that he _was_ in love. With her.

  
Tiredly she pushed him away, smiling faintly. 

  
"You probably will go crazy." She stated, though there was a smile in her voice. "You sure you can handle me?"

  
"You'll be handling me when I go crazy. Years of weed fucked up my brain." He joked, arms wrapping around her hips and then picking her up, eyes glimmering as he stared at her. "If you go crazy, I know i can handle you."

  
"Good to know." She rested her head against his shoulder. "I can't wait to find out... You're really interesting, you know that?"

  
"I sure hope so." He smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to her face. "My entire personality is being high and jazz."

  
"Shush." She teased, a hand moving to comb through his hair. "Wrong." She stated matter of factly. "Your personality also includes good boyfriend..." She paused for a moment to bury her face in his neck. "I like you carrying me. Feels nice."

  
"You're really light." He admitted, as they continued to stare at one another.

  
Natalie smiled at him for a while, but then her expression changed. "What if I do end up like my mom, though? What if I start seeing things, and hallucinating and..." She trailed off, then suddenly pushed away from him, tumbling off of his arms, her tone turning accusatory. "You. You're a hallucination."

  
Henry stared at her for a long moment before he found the words. "...what?"

  
"You're a hallucination." She repeated, as if it was perfectly obvious.

  
Henry blinked, gently tapping his fist against his head, his shoulder, his rib cage, then stomach, then thighs. "I don't think I am."

  
"No, fuck. Oh god." Natalie scrambled backwards, earning a few glances from others at the dance, but nothing much. Henry outstretched his hand to approach her like a stray cat. 

  
"Natalie..."

  
"Shhh!" She held her hands up, and when she spoke, she emphasized each word. "You are not real."

  
"I'm as real as you are." He argued, his tone still gentle and soft despite her erratic state. 

  
"I- no. I am the only one who has seen you. There's a reason you're a loner. It's because you're not real."

  
"No, Nat, I am-"

  
"Shut it! That's something a hallucination would say!"

  
"I'm not a hallucination. You're talking to me, right now."

  
Her eyes darted to look at him, fear evident in her eyes. "I... No. It's why people are staring at me, because I'm talking to nothing!"

  
"No, they're staring at you because you're raising your voice and causing a scene." He explained sweetly, crouching in front of her and reaching out, hand hovering over her knee. "Remember when I walked you home and your dad dragged me in for dinner? Remember when I smoked a blunt in the back of math class and got yelled at by Mrs. Smith?"  
She stared at her lap, nodding slowly.

  
"We're not hallucinating, now are we? Come on, you're fine, just..." He hesitated, now sitting on the floor, no doubt ruining his nice slacks. "Take my hand."

  
"Take your hand so, what, you can tell me to kill myself like my /dead/, hallucination brother did to my mom?"

  
"Take my hand so I can help you up." He argued. "And we can go over to the punch table, and I can try to spike the punch, so I get yelled at and prove to you that I'm real."

  
"S- sure, I can do that."

  
Slowly, she lifted her hand, wrapping her fingers around his. He pulled her up, standing beside him.

  
"That's my girl. Good job." He praised, arm wrapping around her as he produced a flask from the inside of his jacket. Natalie eyed it. 

  
"You... drink?" She asked, a disgusted look crossing her face.

  
"Oh, god no. This is fruit punch." He held it out to her. 

  
"But..."

  
"Look, you can taste it, if you want."

  
Natalie tentative grabbed the flask, tipping it and downing some of the contents in one gulp.

  
It was, indeed, fruit punch. She handed it back to him and moved away, watching as the boy approached the punch table and started to chat with the gym teacher, standing there to make sure no one added alcohol.

  
He spoke to the guy for a while, proving to Natalie that Henry was, indeed, real, until he pulled out the flask and went to dump it inside of the bowl, then Mr. Pines raised his voice and grabbed Henry's arm, tugging him away. 

  
Natalie smiled weakly as she saw that bright light in his eyes, the telltale sign of his adrenaline. 

  
He pulled his arm away and bolted, grabbing Natalie's hand as he ran out the door, giggling like mad.

  
She couldn't help but start to smile and laugh too.

  
"Good riddance!" He yelled as he pushed the door open, finally escaping into the March air, the both of them inhaling a deep breath before hearing a yell and making a decision to run towards the parking lot.

  
They hid behind a huge SUV, trying to calm their giggles as they smiled at each other, Henry's hands resting on Natalie's wrists and feeling up and down her arms. "Real enough for ya?"

  
"Real enough for me." She confirmed.

  
"Then the question is... what do we do now?"

  
"I'm not sure." She admitted, frowning. "Do you have any ideas now that we spent a grand total of five minutes at the school dance?"

  
"Hey, it was more like ten!" He rolled his eyes, beaming at her, and in the dark night, Natalie had an idea.

  
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his.


End file.
